It’s been near 2 years since the start of my 9thAge journey. All-in-all, this has been the most enjoyable Ranked-Unit Fantasy Battles game I’ve played. The balance is there, the tactics are there … and, hell, objectives have completely changed the way I play (thankfully).

Like many of you, I love list building. No, not that I’ll ever play with even one quarter of these lists, it’s just one of the more entertaining of distractions associated with the game. What I’ve found rather entertaining re: my current Daemon Legions (4500) list is how it came to life.
For those of you who have not faced it yet, I’ll include it here for reference:

When I look at that list now… I can’t say that I would ever have come up with that horror show without a load of trial and error.
I’ve played a glass-cannonMono-Change list, numerous Polytheist Lists, I’ve tried a few Greater Daemon lists and tried pretty much every unit in the book, multiple times. When I look at some of my most successful lists, they usually included a unit of Crusher Cavalry with a Harbinger of Wrath working in tandem with the Altar of Slaughter.
The Crushers, the Harbinger and the Altar are all absent in the list I now run, pretty much religiously, at this point.
So, how did this come about?

It all started playing against Pete’s Empire of Sonnstahl about a month and a half ago. I took a list with pretty much anything I rarely used. The Siren cav were there, as were the Sirens, in general. Multiple Fury units… and some old stand-bys; the Daemon Engine, Altar and Slaughterers were there.

Siren Cavalry are the real lynchpin to the list above. They’re fast, can hit like a truck, have loads of options for use and will be able to pick their battles due to maneuverability superior to just about anything else in the game. Anytime I had played them prior, I used them as more of an annoyance than as a real threat. After racking up a daunting amount of kills, I changed my mind on how to use them- I LIKE them in combat… but it has to be a combat of my choosing.

The Tallymen, well… for anyone who has ever faced me… they know what they do. For those who haven’t, they’re a fairly blunt-instrument; Tallymen are, plain and simple, an immovable object with Harbinger support. Excellent for holding objectives, can take a punch better than most units in the game and have wonderful synergy with the level 0 spell in Divination (Scrying- Hard Target and Distracting).

Igniters were a late addition to this list. They have suffered massive amounts of nerfs from previous iterations (they used to be 2W and 1D6 shots…each). That said, for their points, they do a fine job of harassment and psychological panic through the sheer number of dice they throw down in the shooting phase. While their overall effectiveness vis a vis kills is extremely erratic, the potential to swing to the terrifying side of “erratic” can have a serious effect on an opponent’s priorities.

The Sirens are what they are- loads of fast, accurate, S3 attacks rolled up in a very fast infantryunit. Where they get a bit scary is the amount of armour they knock off per attack. Mark of lust (1), Clawed Caress (2) and Rending Standard (3)… even Wasteland Knights will think twice about throwing themselves into combat against a unit with an incredible weight of attacks and a -3 to armour save.Hellhounds… I had never really used before. They were a late swap-in for a small unit of Crushers. I was, initially, worried about losing my 3rdscoringunit for them, but took a risk- and it has paid off. They are quite tough, hard to shift (for such a unit) and, while they aren’t exactly world-beaters on their own, work extremely well in tandem/combo charges with the Siren Cavalry. They have really raised some eyebrows.

And, finally, the Furies… well, they do what they do. Chaff, redirection and harassment… and they do it very well. They are quite cheap for the pair of units (with Fly 10) and have never really let me down. Hell, even when I play them poorly they still seem to have a positive impact.

This was not an army I had envisioned playing one year ago, let alone two. It has some serious weak spots. Other than the Tallymen, I have lots and lots of expensive, T3 troops. There are only two scoring units. Grinding, again outside the Tallymen, is pretty much not an option. Armour is non-existent (outside the hellhounds). Massed shooting has the potential to really,… [Read More]

Wesley’s Saurian Ancients are back this week with a new magic lore. He faces off against John’s Mono Wrath Daemon’s lead to battle by a tooled up Scourge of Wrath (Billy). Can the ranks of lizards overcome the swarms of Daemon units and Billy running at them?